Marscon 2017 Schedule

Where I will be this weekend at MarsCon. As always, things can change quickly.

Friday, March 3:

5:00-5:50 p.m., Krushenko’s. Panel: Anne McCaffrey and the Dragons of Pern
Posthumous GOH Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011) produced a large and diverse body of science fiction and fantasy. We’ll survey her several series, with special attention, owing to this year’s convention theme, to the Dragonriders of Pern series, featuring lizards that are sentient species genetically engineered to bond with human riders. We’ll also look at how her various series have influenced both science fiction and fantasy.
With: Eric M. Heideman, mod.; Rick Gellman, Michael Merriam, Polly Jo Peterson

1:00-1:50 p.m., Krushenko’s. Panel: Western Women of Page and Screen
While there is a tendency to look upon the Western as a male genre, frontier women have contributed greatly to Western history and to Western fiction, movies, and TV. We’ll share enthusiasm about some of our favorites.
With: Eric M. Heideman, mod.; David Christenson, Michael Merriam

4:00-4:50 p.m., Krushenko’s. Discussion: SF Writing Groups: The 2017 Scene
Since 1986 the Minnesota Imaginative Fiction Writers’ Alliance has hosted an annual meeting at a local SF convention, first Minicon, then CONvergence, now MarsCon, at which representatives of science fiction/fantasy writing groups talk about how their groups got started and how they function; after which the group representatives go into a huddle with writers who are looking for an SF writing group.
With: Eric M. Heideman, convenor; Michael Merriam